New Innovators

This month we bring you a non-toxic superbug remedy, direct marketing for mobile users and improvements in solar panel manufacturing

Watery end for pathogens

CM VENTURES:AN ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly, non-toxic, water-based system for killing pathogens such as MRSA and E.coli has been developed by Co Offaly-based CM Ventures. The technology uses electrolysis to kill pathogens in water and is based on a system used in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s to clean hospitals.

The founders of CM Ventures were examining business opportunities in the water area around three years ago when they became aware of this technology. They travelled to Lithuania and, after speaking to the scientists involved, decided to buy the rights.

They then began refining the basic cells used in the process, developing sophisticated control measures and started looking at areas where there was a market for the technology.

“This thing kills pathogens, such as MRSA, E Coli and salmonella, but is completely safe for humans to consume as the only addition to the water is salt,” says CM Ventures chairman Ciarán Fitzgerald.

During the electrolysis process a small amount of salt is added to the water which is then charged and it remains active for a period of around 24 hours. This means the water will kill pathogens if it is used in hand washing, to clean or spray surfaces or any other form of cleaning. While the technology has been around for years, Fitzgerald says the innovation behind CM Ventures’ patented process is being able to provide effective cleaning on an industrial scale.

“We have a more efficient cell and we are able to clean the water on a far larger scale than ever before. So we have first-move advantage. We have taken this electrolysis-based technology and created a system that goes into a plant or a hospital, is fitted to the water system and meets the critical requirements for that business.”

While the company initially thought public hospitals were their ideal market, the slow pace of decision-making by healthcare officials here saw them turn their attention to other sectors.

Following a nine-month validation period, the system has been installed in the AIBP/ Irish Food Processors meat processing plant in Clones, Co Monaghan, and Fitzgerald says the system is natural fit for the food industry.

The company is also in talks with a large pharmaceutical company. The system can generate significant savings because the charged water can be used at room temperature.

Fitzgerald says companies can recoup the capital cost of installing the system within 30 months, adding that the reduced use of chemical cleaning products brings further savings. “This benefits firms environmentally, with lower carbon emissions from heating water for cleaning and reduced use of harmful chemicals,” he adds. “There is no residue problem and it is a good cleaner of waste water.”

CM Ventures has received support funding from Enterprise Ireland and the local county enterprise board. The company would like to remain based at Ferbane but interest from the UK and the US means it may look at manufacturing outside the State.

Sunny side for solar panels

PHIVE PLASMA TECHNOLOGIES:A DUBLIN-BASED firm has developed a new method of manufacturing photovoltaic solar panels for the generation of electricity.

Based at Dublin City University’s incubation centre Invent, Phive Plasma Technologies has patented a system to allow the solar industry deposit silicon much more quickly than existing production standards.

As a result, the manufacturing costs of the product are lower, with Phive also claiming that its method improves the performance of the solar panels and makes solar power more economically viable.

Fiachra Green, vice president of operations with Phive, says the company was born out of a chance meeting between physicist Dr Bert Ellingboe and entrepreneur Bernard Hensey at a sports event for their children.

With a long career in the semi-conductor industry before taking up a research and teaching position in DCU, Ellingboe had developed innovative ideas he was considering commercialising and teamed up with Hensey to form Phive in 2006.

With his background in semi-conductors, Ellingboe had a concept that would allow the deposition of silicon thin films at lower temperatures in the production of solar panels.

Traditionally the standard size of solar panels has been limited by the speed at which machines can lay the silicon on the panels. With Phive’s technology, larger panels can be made much more quickly, therefore reducing cost.

The company recently completed trials with a European manufacturer using a small-scale model and is now working on a production-sized version of the product.

Green, who previously worked at Applied Materials, which is a major contractor for Intel, says the company is a High Potential Start-up with Enterprise Ireland and also has a number of private shareholders.

“We are talking to customers at the moment and we are looking at customising the hardware,” he said. The product has been patented.

He said the company hopes to have its first product installed in a manufacturing plant by the second half of this year. See phive.com.

Direct channel to customers

ICAP MEDIA:A NEW MOBILE marketing firm offering companies and advertisers access to a targeted audience has been formed in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

Ocode is the first commercial product ICap Media has brought to market and chief executive Ken Nugent says it offers “retailers and marketers a highly targeted and direct channel to their customers”.

The system works by encouraging consumers to register through their phone or online to avail of special offers or prizes. As a result, it allows firms to target an audience already interested in what they have to offer.

The system is fully opt-in, so there are no unwanted texts, says Nugent, and the offers are tailored to the interest of the individual user and their location.

The company already has 3,000 users and 15 companies signed up and Nugent expects this to double by the end of the month.

The idea was born out of Nugent’s background in supermarket receipts advertising, a channel he found frustrating because of its untargeted nature. “The success of the system couldn’t be measured,” he says.

“Ocode stands for ‘offer code’ and it is a way of getting special offers and entertainment to a highly targeted audience. Advertisers are looking for a more targeted approach and this product provides it.”

The revenue model is based on a hosting fee and a download charge for advertisers when, for example, a user accesses an offer on their mobile. As such, it requires economies of scale, which Nugent is confident will quickly follow. He expects the company to be profitable by the middle of this year.

The company was formed in October 2007 and has received start-up funding from AIB, Enterprise Ireland and a private investor. Nugent says Ocode differs from other marketing tools because of the point-of-sale management and back-up it offers. See ocode.ie.

The slow pace of decision making by healthcare officials here saw them turn their attention to other sectors

Phive says its method improves the performance of the solar panels and makes solar power more economically viable